Lubricating fitting



arch 11, 194 s. H. FORSBERG LUBRICATING FITTING Filed Dec. 10, 1938 INVENTOR. SWAN HENRY FORSBERG.

Patented Mar. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LUBRICATIN G FITTING Application December 10, 1938, Serial No. 244,993

6 Claims.

The present invention relates .to lubricant fittings and has as its principal object the provision of a new and improved fitting for sealing the oil hole of a bearing and adapted to re- 5; ceive lubricant from the spout of an oil-can or the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fitting that is adapted to receive lubricant from either a spout or grease gun, thereby W eliminating the necessity of using one type of fitting for oil and another type for grease.

Still another object is to provide a lubricant fitting that is simple and inexpensive, applicable to most bearing installations, and at the same time requires no special heads or connections on the grease gun or oil-can used to supply the lubricant.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a 30 consideration of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, reference being had to the appended drawing, in which Figure 1 is a sectional view of a shaft bearing and lubricant fitting embodying the principles of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the device shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detail view of the lubricant fitting alone;

Figure 4 is a sectional view showing an oil-can spout inserted into the pin hole of the fitting; and

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 and 33 showing the manner in which a grease gun may be used with the fitting.

Referring now to the drawing, the reference numeral l indicates a shaft that is journaled in a bearing H. In the embodiment shown, the

- bearing II is of the sleeve type, having a shallow annular channel or groove l2 provided in the inner wall thereof for the purpose of holdng lubricant. An oil hole I3 is formed in the hearing il opening into the groove l2, and secured in the oil hole I3 is the lubricant fitting, indicated in its entirety by the numeral It.

The lubricant fitting M is made of resilient material, preferably oil-resisting rubber or synthetic rubber which is not affected by oil, and is formed with a barrel or plug portion and a flange or seal portion H5 at one end thereof.

An orifice 20 is provided in the center of the then tapering abruptly, as at l9, and terminating in a pin hole 2| disposed centrally in the flange portion l6. As shown in Figure l, the outer end or face of the barrel portion I5 is flat and the outer end of the pin hole orifice 2| terminates 5 in the plane thereof. Thus, no dirt, caked lubricant, or the like can collect .to interfere with the lubricating operation, and being flat, this surface can be readily wiped clean before inserting an oil can spout or other lubricant source. A raised annular ridge 22 is provided on the top surface of the flange portion l6 for the purpose of holding a grease gun head 23 (Figure 5) in register with the pin hole 2| when such a gunis used for injecting grease into the bearing, said ridge serving to prevent the grease gun head from slipping ofi the fitting.

In the embodiment shown in the drawing, the barrel portion I5 of the fitting is mad slightly larger in diameter than the oil hole l3, and is pressed into the hole to form an oil-tight press fit.

To oil the bearing using an oil-can having a spout 24, the spout is pushed through the pin hole 2|, spreading the resilient wall of the 25 fitting until the end of the spout extends into the orifice 20, as shown in Figure 4. Oil may then be forced into the oil hole I3 and channel l2 in the usual manner, and when sufficient oil has been applied, the nozzle of the oil-can is withdrawn. The elasticity of the material used in the fitting It causes the pin hole 2| to close up again, sealing the oil reservoir l2 against entrance of dirt, water and other foreign matter, and preventing the oil from escaping.

The same fitting may be used with a grease gun for injecting semi-solid grease into th oil hole l3 and groove l2 by pressing the head 23 of the grease gun tightly against the top surface of the flange portion l6 and then operating the mechanism for forcing the grease under pressure through the pin hole 2| and orifice 28. In this instance, the pin hole 2| is expanded by the pressure of the grease in the gun-head, and as soon as the pressure is released the hole closes 5 up, sealing the grease in. As described herein before, the ridge 22 prevents the head of the grease gun from slipping off the fitting, and is particularly advantageous when the fitting has become slippery with grease.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. For use with a bearing having an oil hole therein, a lubricant fitting consisting of a rubber seal portion of larger diameter than said oil hole and adapted to be disposed outwardly thereof so as to cover and overlap the edges of said oil hole, said outer portion of the lubricant fitting having an opening therein adjacent its outer surface that is normally closed by virtue of the elasticity of the rubber, said opening being deformable when an oil can spout is inserted to allow the spout to extend into said 011 hole, and means carried by and extending inwardly of said seal portion and fitting tightly within said oil hole for holding said fitting permanently in place on said bearing with saidseal portion in position covering said oil hole.

2. For use with a bearing having an oil hole therein, a lubricant fitting adapted to be permanently secured to and form a part of the bearing, consisting of a seal portion of resilient material of larger diameter than said 011 hole and adapted to be disposed outwardly thereof so as to cover said oil hole, said outer seal portion having a substantially fiat outer face, said outer face having an opening therein that is normally closed by virtue of the elasticity of the resilient material of said outer seal portion, said opening being adapted to open under pressure to allow the passage of lubricant, means extending outwardly from the peripheral portion of said substantially fiat surface for holding the head of a grease gun in place on said fiat surface and over said opening therein, and means extending generally inwardly from said outer seal portion for permanently fixing said seal portion to said bearing in position covering said oil hole.

3. For use with a bearing having an oil hole, a rubber lubricant fitting adapted to accommodate the head of a grease gun, said fitting com prising a barrel portion adapted to be inserted into said oil hole and having an orifice formed therein, and a flange portion outwardly of said barrel portion and overlapping the edges of the oil hole, said flange portion having a pin hole opening at one end into said orifice and at the other end accessible to a lubricant gun or the like, the rubber of said fitting acting to substantially close said pin hole normally but yielding under pressure of grease from the grease gun to open the pin hole and allow the grease to enter, and a raised annular ridge formed on said flange portion at the outer end of said fitting opposite said barrel portion for holding the head of the grease gun in register with saidpin hole.

4. For use with a bearing having a lubricant passage therein, a lubricant fitting comprising a bushing of resilient material, the inner end of which is adapted to be inserted in said passage, there being an inner opening of appreciable diameter extending through said bushing from said inner end toward the outer end terminating short of the latter, said outer end having an opening communicating with said inner opening and of such small diameter as to be normally closed by the resilience of said material so as to prevent dust, dirt and the like from passing into said inner opening, said material being capable of being deformed to allow the passage of lubricant through said normally closed outer opening and into said inner opening to said bearing.

5. A lubricant fitting as defined in claim 4, further characterized by means for limiting the inward movement of the bushing into said lubricant passage so as to dispose the material in which said normally closed opening is formed substantially wholly outside the outer end of said bearing lubricant passage, whereby to facilitate the entrance of a lubricant conduit through said normally closed opening and into said inner opening of appreciable diameter.

6. A lubricant fitting as defined in claim 4, further characterized by said outer end, having the normally closed opening, being substantially fiat in the regions surrounding said normally closed opening so as to facilitate wiping on dirt, dust and'the like which may collect on the outer end of the bushing between periods of lubrication.

SWAN H. FORSBERG. 

